Dragon 2

SpaceX’s CRS-16 resupply mission to the International Space Station has been grappled by Canadarm2 – despite being delayed by a ground station communication issue with a Tracking and Data Relay (TDRS) satellite – ahead of being successfully berthed to the orbital outpost. The mission’s arrival signals the start of a busy 37 day period with the cargo craft on a flight that – when launched – could have overlapped with SpaceX’s uncrewed test flight of crew Dragon for the Demonstration Mission -1 part of the Commercial Crew Program.

On Friday, NASA confirmed a new launch target for DM-1 of No Earlier Than 17 January 2019, deconflicting the test flight and current CRS-16 cargo resupply mission.